Anett Fritsch sings arias from the Mozart/Da Ponte trilogy of Figaro / Don Giovanni / Così. Progressing in recent years through a series of acclaimed performances, portraying Mozart’s principal female characters – most notably in Sven Erik Bechtolf’s productions of Figaro and Don Giovanni in Salzburg and Michael Haneke’s version of Così which caused such a stir in Madrid – Anett Fritsch has been astounding audiences with her versatility. In 2016 she played all of the important female roles in Le nozze di Figaro in the course of just five months: Susanna in Toulouse in April, Cherubino in Munich in June, and La Contessa in Salzburg in August.

On this recording she demonstrates the great diversity of Mozart’s female roles, beginning with the Contessa’s complex first aria ‘Porgi amor’ alongside Cherubino’s ecstatic ‘Non so più cosa son’ and the heartfelt canzona, followed by Susanna’s ‘rose aria’. Then from Don Giovanni we hear Donna Elvira’s passionate ‘Ah fuggi il traditor’ together with ‘In quali eccesi’ that was added later for the Vienna production. Anett Fritsch considers Donna Elvira to be the most emotionally ‘all-encompassing’ character in the opera, and contrasts her portrayal with the emotionally (and musically) quite different, Zerlina in her efforts to win back Masetto. Fiordiligi’s first two great arias are next, from the apparently comic, yet in truth highly cryptic Così fan tutte; they are separated by the frivolous and unintentionally comic erotic advice given by Despina (the first Mozart role that Anett Fritsch ever performed, in 2006) in ‘Una donna a quindici anni’. It is certainly remarkable how flexibly she does vocal justice to the diverse roles, starting from her lyrical base and then adjusting her voice to the challenges of each character, using a higher level of coloratura or adding her own embellishments, placing emotional emphasis where it is needed.

Anett Frisch is wonderfully accompanied in all of this by the Munich Radio Orchestra, led by Alessandro De Marchi. Her recording programme draws to a close with examples from a meaningful, less well known field of Mozart’s vocal oeuvre – two expansive concert arias. The two-part, richly modulating aria with the recitative ‘Bella mia fiamma – Resta, oh cara’ was written in Prague for Niccolò Jommelli’s Festa teatrale Cerere placata in 1787, at the same time that Don Giovanni was premiered. On this recording, Anett Fritsch takes on a breeches role as Titano as he takes leave of his lover, culminating in him taking his own life.